Some stakeholders in the entire trade supply chain in Nigeria have lamented the uncontrolled influx of fake and substandard goods into the country. This is even as they have blamed the inefficiency of the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) for the influx.
The stakeholders lamented that high influx, despite the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) which recently named SON as the top-performing agency in terms of transparency and efficiency in the Ease of Doing Business ranking order in 2022.
They also alleged that the inefficiency of the SON has contributed to the recent building collapse in different parts of the country because of substandard building materials being imported, while also alleging that there has been an increase in the influx of electronic cables and automobile spare parts and tyres into the country.
In a chat with our correspondent, the National coordinator Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC) Chief Osita Chukwu blamed the inefficiency of SON for the influx.
He alleged that there is massive building collapse due to inferior products used in building; he stated that there is reduction in the standard quality of products that are being imported into the country.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Center for Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE) Dr. Muda Yusuf said there is need for SON to expand its scope of operations by manning all the entry points into the country, be it the seaport or land borders while also adding that the agency should develop more capacity to generate intelligence and as well collaborate with other sister agency.
He however urged the Federal Government to create an environment for local manufacturers to be able to produce goods at a cheaper rate and at a high quality, explaining that there is an influx of substandard goods into the country due to the poverty level of the people who can’t afford to buy standard products.He said; “I think SON is doing its best, within its limit of the resources that they have, because the issue of smuggling and importation of substandard products is a very big issue in fact it’s a massive issue and you need an organization with very big capacity to handle these matters.
“So my view is that SON needs to expand her scope of operations, and they should be able to man all the entry points, you know whether it’s the seaports or land borders they should have that capacity, also more capacity to generate intelligence and some other agencies of government should collaborate with SON especially the Customs, because i’m not sure they are getting the right kind of corporation from Customs, so it’s important that Customs works closely with SON and NAFDAC for them to be able to checkmate influx of these substandard products
“Secondly as a country, we should be able to create an environment for our local producers to be able to produce goods at a cheaper rate and at a high quality because some of this happens again because of poverty, people are looking for cheap things that they can afford and when the environment is so difficult that what is produce locally is not affordable by the citizens or majority of the citizens it creates a market for all these substandard and smuggled goods
“So at the most larger level, we should create an environment to make it easier for those who are in production to produce at a most lower cost so that their products can be more affordable, so that people will not be looking for cheap things like secondhand goods or fairly used tyres, a new tyre is about N30,000 or N25,000 you know how many people can afford that?
“All these guys who are into Uber and some of these people who are in the middle class, who are just struggling to even put the car on the road, so preferably they go for fairly used tyres, which is very risky, but it’s not that they love to do it but there is an affordability problem so I think we also need to address those issues, those are the bigger issues” he said.
Speaking also with our correspondent, the President of the Association of Nigeria Tyre Marketers, Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, Alhaji Issa Akanbi Muhammed stated that one of the ways to reduce the influx of substandard products is to make the country land borders unsafe for the dealers of substandard products.
He noted that the influx of substandard tyres can only be reduced when new ones are available and affordable. He explained that this can be made possible if the government delists tyres from prohibited items so as to help local importers source for Forex at bank rate, he informed that they currently source for Forex from the black markets which comes at a very high and unstable rates.
According to him, “one way to reduce influx of substandard products is to make our borders unsafe for the dealers and make the market unfavorable for them, two is to make new and standard tyres affordable for motorists, transporters and haulage operators
“Tokunbo and used tyres market can be discouraged only when new ones are available and affordable, this can be done in two ways, one is to delist tyres from the prohibited items, so that, local importers are able to source forex at bank rate to import tyres , what we do now is sourcing forex in black market at very high and unstable rates , because tyre is wrongly listed as a prohibited item
Speaking also, the President of Council of Maritime Truck Union and Association (COMTUA) Mr. Adeyinka Aroyewun said the influx of substandard goods in the country needs more than SON to control the menace. He said all agencies of government; Customs, NAFDAC, and others must be connected to qualitative and professional checks on goods.
He added that the policies of the government especially on tariff is also a factor while also noting that SON can do better to reduce the influx of substandard goods.
“The influx of substandard goods in the country needs more than SON to control the menace. All agencies of govt, vis-a-vis, Customs, NAFDAC, and others must be connected to qualitative and professional checks on goods. The policies of the government , especially on tariffs, are also a factor. However, SON can do better
All efforts to get the reaction of SON proved abortive as calls and text messages sent to the Head of Media of the organisation Mrs Maryam Samson was not responded to as at press time.
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